Cinch

ABSTRACT

This cinch includes a webbing assembly including a pair of longitudinal straps extending in parallel relation between and around a straight bar of a pair of cinch buckles, then inclined to cross over and extend to the outside at the center, with the ends of each stap overlapped at the center. A cross strap encircles the longitudinal straps at the center, including the overlapped ends and with its own ends overlapped. The cross strap also forms a loop at each end to receive a ring for a breast collar strap and a flank cinch strap. The center of the webbing assembly is stitched, through the cross strap, and the longitudinal straps are stitched together adjacent each buckle. The straight bars of the buckles produce a straight pull on both the parallel and inclined portions of the longitudinal straps. The webbing assembly is enclosed by a double walled cover having an olefin or similar pile on the outside and angular extensions at the center, both to the front and rear, conforming in shape to the webbing assembly. These extensions provide a greater bearing area for the cinch and minimize interference with the horse&#39;&#39;s elbows. The cover also has slots, on the underside, through which the respective buckles and rings extend, thereby providing adequate padding for said buckles and rings.

United States Patent [191 Deal [ Apr. 23, 1974 CINCH [76] Inventor:Stanley E. Deal, P.O. Box 1371,

Polson, Mont. 59860 [22] Filed: 7 "Apr. 30, 1973 [211 App]. No.: 355,970

[52] US. Cl. 54/23 3,348,362 10/1967 Herrera ..54/23 PrimaryExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerJ. Q; Lever Attorney, Agent,or Firm-Horace B. Van Valkenburgh; Frank C, Lowe [57] ABSTRACT Thiscinch includes a webbing assembly including a pair of longitudinalstraps extending in parallel relation between and around a straight barof a pair of cinch buckles, then inclined to cross over and extend tothe outside at the center, with the ends of each stap overlapped at thecenter. A cross strap encircles the longitudinal straps at the center,including the overlapped ends and with its own ends overlapped. Thecross strap also forms a loop at each end to receive a ring for a breastcollar strap and a flank cinch strap. The center of the webbing assemblyis stitched, through the cross strap, and the longitudinal straps arestitched together adjacent each buckle. The straight bars of the bucklesproduce a straight pull on both the parallel and inclined portions ofthe longitudinal straps. The webbing assembly is enclosed by a doublewalled cover having an olefin or similar pile on the outside and angularextensions at the center, both to the front and rear, conforming inshape to the webbing assembly. These extensions provide a greaterbearing area for the cinch and minimize interference with the horseselbows. The cover also has slots, on the underside, through which therespective buckles and rings extend, thereby providing adequate paddingfor said buckles and rings.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures CINCH This invention relates to cinches, andmore particularly to a cinch utilized for attaching a saddle to a horse.

Among the objects of this invention are to provide a cinch which willproduce more comfort for the horse and be less apt to produce cinchsores; to provide a cinch which is adapted to fit well forward on thebrisket of the horse; to provide a cinch having an adequate bearingsurface; to provide such a cinch which will produce sufficient space forclearance between the cinch and the elbows of the horse; to provide sucha cinch in which the hardware used has. adequate. padding and bearingsurfaces; to provide such a cinch in which there is a straight pullbetween the breast collar ring and the flank cinch ring; to provide sucha cinch in which there is an essentially straight pull between the cinchbuckles, thereby tending to minimize wadding, twisting or turning of thecinch; to provide such a cinch which is completely washable and theparts of which are different from leather in being resistant to rot andmildew and having sufficient strength to avoid breakage; and to providesuch a cinch which is relatively easy to manufacture and will be longwearing and durable in use.

Additional objects and the novel features of this invention will becomeapparent from the description which follows, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a cinch constructed in accordance with thisinvention. 7

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the cinch of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a webbing assembly which is placed inside afleece or pile cover.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the webbing assembly.

FIG. 5 is a cross section, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 5-5 ofFIG. 3 through the longitudinal center of the webbing assembly.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 6-6 ofFIG. 1, near one end of the fleece or pile cover. 1

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section, on an enlarged scale, taken along line77 of FIG. 2, at one edge at the center of the fleece or pilecover. I

FIG. 8 is a perspective view, on a reduced scale, of the cinch, as it isfitted toa horse.

FIG. 9 is a side perspective, on a considerably re- I duced scale, ofthe cinch as mounted on a saddled horse.

A cinch C constructed in accordance with this invention is shown in FIG.9 as mounted on a horse H and attached to a saddle S by means of alatigo 10. The

cinch C engages the brisket 11 of the horse, while a breast collar strap12 extends forwardly and a flank cinchstrap 13 extends rearwardly fromthe cinch, the former extending to a breast collar 14 and beingconnected, if desired, to a nose band or tie down 15. Conventional reinsareprovided but are not shown, for clarity of illustration. Flank cinchstrap 13 extends rearwardly to a flank cinch 16, attached to the saddleby a conventional latigo 17. Shown in FIG. 8 is the'latigo at each side,by which the saddle is attached to the cinch C, as well as the breastcollar strap 12 extending forwardly and the flank cinch strap 13extending rearwardly. In FIG. 9 is shown the breast collar strap 12extending between the front legs 19 and 20 of the horse.

The cinch C engages the brisket 11 at a forward position, where thebrisket is solid, rather than rearwardly over the more flexible partwhere there is more cartilage between the ribs and the brisket.Nevertheless, there is plenty of room between the cinch and the elbow 21of each of the front legs of the horse, as will be pointed out later.

The cinch of this invention comprises a fleece or pile cover F whichacts as a padding member and encloses a webbing assembly W. As in FIGS.1, 2 and 6, fleece cover F is formed of a fabric provided with a densepile having the characteristics of an olefin pile, preferably of a typewhich is utilized in hospitals under bedridden patients, to prevent bedsores, in order to prevent cinch sores on the horse. The fleece or pilecover is formed from top and bottom halves 24 and 25, which are cut toshape to provide rectangular sides 26 having rounded corners and aforwardly and rearwardly extending, angular portion 27 at the center ofthe completed cover. The extending portions 27, which cause the cover Fto conform in shape to the webbing assembly W, as described below,provide a greater bearing area for the cinch and also provide greaterroom for movement of the front leg elbows 21 without increasing thewidth of the cinch. The two halves 24 and 25 are placed with the pile ofeach half facing the pile of the opposite half, and the edges 28 aresewn together, as by stitching 29 of FIG. 6. Each half of the cover is,of course, cut with proper allowance for the sewn edges. After the edgesare sewn, the cover is turned inside out, as through one of a pair ofslots 30, adjacent opposite ends of the sides thereof, through whichcinch strap buckles 31 extend in the completed cinch. Additional slots32, as in FIG. 2, through which rings 33 extend for connection to thebreast collar strap 12 and flank cinch strap 13, respectively, are alsoprovided, as by slots in the bottom half of the cover F. A slot 32 foreach of rings 33 may be conveniently provided, as in FIG. 7, merely byomitting some of the edge stitching 29 at the position of the rings. Thewebbing assembly W of FIGS. 3'and 4 may be inserted within the cover, asthe cover is turned inside out.

' As in FIGS. 3 and 4, the webbing assembly W comprises a pair oflongitudinal straps 35 and 36 and a center cross strap 37, each formedof a tightly woven webbing of suitable material, such as nylon, which isboth washable and resistant to rot and mildew, as is the fleece or pilecover F. Each end of each strap 35 and 36, as well as the center of eachweb strap, is attached to cross strap 37, as by stitching 38. The endsof each strap 35 and 36 are also overlapped between the cross strap 37,which, as in FIG. 5, is a single strap extending over both the top andbottom of the overlapped ends and centers of straps 35 and 36, with theends 39 of strap 37 overlapped. Each strap 35 and 36 is disposed inparallel relation with the other strap-throughout the length of thewebbing assembly, on the bottom side thereof, as in FIG. 4, and extendsas a loop 40 over a straight bar 41 of a buckle 31, the straps 35 and 36being positioned on opposite sides of a buckle tongue 42. From thebuckle 31, each strap 35 and 36 is inclined to extend to the oppositeside of the center of the webbing assembly, crossing over the otherstrap at a cross-over area 43. The longitudinal straps are furtherconnected together by stitching 44, between the buckle and thecross-over area 43. Loops 46, formed by the cross strap 37, as in FIG.5, engage the respective rings 33. Each angular portion 27 of the fleeceor pile cover, as will be evident, accommodates the angular effect ofthe web straps, with the cross strap being at the center of the angularcentral portions 27.

Both the buckles 31 and rings 33 are formed of a suitable corrosionresistant material, such as stainless steel. Since the upper and lowerreaches of cross strap 37 are stitched together throughout substantiallythe length thereof, the cross strap will resist twisting or turning,although the pull on rings 33 is normally much less than the pull onbuckles 31. While rings 33 may be of conventional circular shape, thestraight bar 41 of each buckle 31 is highly desirable, since such a barproduces a straight pull on the parallel portions of straps 35 and 36,as well as on the inclined portions of these straps. Thus, the straightbars 41 of buckles 31 materially assist in minimizing wadding at thebuckles or twisting or turning of the cinch. Since slots 30 for buckles31 and slots 32 for rings 33 are on the underside of the cinch cover,the hardware has adequate padding and bearing surfaces. The centralextensions 27 of the fleece or pile cover provide additional bearingsurface for the cinch, while the inner ends of the inclined portions ofstraps 35 and 36 transmit a commensurate portion of the pull on cinchbuckles 31 to the bearing area under the extensions 27. Due to thecurved form of the cinch, as in FIG. 8, when placed on a horse, aneffective pull of the inclined ends of straps 35 and 36 on the bearingareas of extensions 27 is enhanced. Thus, the effective bearing area ofthe cinch is increased without the necessity of increasing the widththereof, which would increase the possibility of the elbows 21 of thefront legs of the horse striking the cinch during movement.

As will be evident from the foregoing, a cinch constructed in accordancewith this invention fulfills to a marked degree the objects andrequirements hereinbefore set forth. Although a preferred embodiment ofthis invention has been illustrated and described, it will be evidentthat other embodiments may exist and that various changes may be madetherein, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A cinch comprising:

a padding member having a longitudinal dimension sufficient to extendbeneath the rib cage of a horse and lateral extensions at the centerproviding additional bearing area;

a webbing assembly corresponding in shape to the padding and havingmeans producing a force against said padding member, including saidextensions; and

a cinch buckle having a straight bar at each end of said webbing,whereby an essentially straight pull at the ends of said webbing isproduced and said lateral extensions produce a minimum of interferencewith the elbows of the front legs of said horse.

2. A cinch as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said padding member comprises a washable fabric provided with a pile.

3. A cinch as defined in claim 2, wherein:

said pile has the characteristics of an olefin pile.

4. A cinch as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said padding member is a cover which encloses said webbing assembly.

5. A cinch as defined in claim 4, wherein:

said cover is provided with slots on the underside through which saidcinch buckles extend.

6. A cinch as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said webbing assembly comprises longitudinal straps which extend inparallel relation between and around a bar of each cinch buckle, thenare inclined to cross over to the outside of the parallel portions ofsaid straps at the center of said webbing assembly.

7. A cinch as defined in claim 6, including:

a cross strap disposed centrally of said webbing assembly and attachedto both the parallel and inclined portions of said longitudinal straps.

8. A cinch as defined in claim 7,- wherein:

said cross strap extends across both the underside and the top side ofthe central portion of said longitudinal straps.

9. A cinch as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said padding member is a cover which encloses said webbing assembly andcomprises two halves, each formed of a washable fabric having a pile onthe outside, the edges of said two halves being stitched together withinsaid cover;

said cover having generally rectangular side portions provided withrounded corners and an angular, forwardly and rearwardly extendingportion at the center thereof;

said cover is provided with slots on the underside through which saidbuckles extend;

said webbing assembly includes a pair of longitudinal straps whichextend in longitudinal, parallel relation between said cinch buckles,then around the straight bar of the corresponding cinch buckle, onopposite sides of a tongue of said cinch buckle, then are inclined tocross over and extend to a position on opposite sides of the center ofsaid parallel portions, the ends of the inclined portions of each strapbeing overlapped at the center of the webbing assembly, stitchingconnecting said longitudinal straps between said cross-over area and theadjacent cinch buckle;

a cross strap extending across both the top and the bottom of saidlongitudinal straps and enclosing both said parallel portions and saidoverlapped ends of said longitudinal straps, the ends of said crossstrap also being overlapped;

stitching connecting the top and bottom reaches of said cross strap andits overlapped ends and the center of said parallel portions and saidoverlapped ends of said longitudinal straps;

said cross strap forming a loop at each end thereof, to receive a ringfor attachment of a breast collar strap or the like and a flank cinchstrap or the like received in said loops; and

said cinch cover being provided with an aperture on the underside ofeach angular portion through which the corresponding ring extends.

1. A cinch comprising: a padding member having a longitudinal dimensionsufficient to extend beneath the rib cage of a horse and lateralextensions at the center providing additional bearing area; a webbingassembly corresponding in shape to the padding and having meansproducing a force against said padding member, including saidextensions; and a cinch buckle having a straight bar at each end of saidwebbing, whereby an essentially straight pull at the ends of saidwebbing is produced and said lateral extensions produce a minimum ofinterference with the elbows of the front legs of said horse.
 2. A cinchas defined in claim 1, wherein: said padding member comprises a washablefabric provided with a pile.
 3. A cinch as defined in claim 2, wherein:said pile has the characteristics of an olefin pile.
 4. A cinch asdefined in claim 1, wherein: said padding member is a cover whichencloses said webbing assembly.
 5. A cinch as defined in claim 4,wherein: said cover is provided with slots on the underside throughwhich said cinch buckles extend.
 6. A cinch as defined in claim 1,wherein: said webbing assembly comprises longitudinal straps whichextend in parallel relation between and around a bar of each cinchbuckle, then are inclined to cross over to the outside of the parallelportions of said straps at the center of said webbing assembly.
 7. Acinch as defined in claim 6, including: a cross strap disposed centrallyof said webbing assembly and attached to both the parallel and inclinedportions of said longitudinal straps.
 8. A cinch as defined in claim 7,wherein: said cross strap extends across both the underside and the topside of the central portion of said longitudinal straps.
 9. A cinch asdefined in claim 1, wherein: said padding member is a cover whichencloses said webbing assembly and comprises two halves, each formed ofa washable fabric having a pile on the outside, the edges of said twohalves being stitched together within said cover; said cover havinggenerally rectangular side portions provided with rounded corners and anangular, forwardly and rearwardly extending portion at the centerthereof; said cover is provided with slots on the underside throughwhich said buckles extend; said webbing assembly includes a pair oflongitudinal straps which extend in longitudinal, parallel relationbetween said cinch buckles, then around the straight bar of thecorresponding cinch buckle, on opposite sides of a tongue of said cinchbuckle, then are inclined to cross over and extend to a position onopposite sides of the center of said parallel portions, the ends of theinclined portions of each strap being overlapped at the center of thewebbing assembly, stitching connecting said longitudinal straps betweensaid cross-over area and the adjacent cinch buckle; a cross strapextending across both the top and the bottom of said longitudinal strapsand enclosing both said parallel portions and said overlapped ends ofsaid longitudinal straps, the ends of said cross strap also beingoverlapped; stitching connecting the top and bottom reaches of saidcross strap and its overlapped ends and the center of said parallelportions and said overlapped ends of said longitudinal straps; saidcross strap forming a loop at each end thereof, to receive a ring forattachment of a breast collar strap or the like and a flank cinch strapor the like received in said loops; and said cinch cover being providedwith an aperture on the underside of each angular portion through whichthe corresponding ring extends.